Cora

"Dimitri I swear to God if I fall down, I'm going to kill you" I gritted out grabbing onto his shoulder

"You're not going to fall down принцесса, just keep your eyes on me, don't look down" he says calmly resting his hands on my waist, making me look up at him

"That's better, now you're going to try and move" he says looking at me and I start shaking my head

"No"

"Yes"

"No, I'm not interested anymore, get me off these ridiculous things, I'm going home" I snap, even though I said I was going home, I couldn't move from where I stood.

"How are you going to learn if you're chickening out like this, it's very easy, see" he says letting me go and giving me a little display, I almost lose my balance but he's quick to catch me.

I glare at him hard "I almost fell down just now and I wasn't even moving" I grit out "If you wanna kill me, there are other ways to kill me, please not like this" I mutter out looking back down at my shoes shaking my head.

Then I hear it, it's a bit of a chuckle, not too loud but I hear it, and I immediately look up to find him looking at me in amusement with a full laugh coming out of his mouth.

I'm shocked, it's the most, soothing and mesmerising sight, I'd ever seen in my entire life. I never knew Dimitri had dimples, or that his teeth were so perfectly arranged and spaced at the same time.

His eyes, for the first time since I met him, were now very bright green, no longer the dark sage green, more like emerald in sunlight

If I knew this was what I had to do to get him to show this much positive emotion, I'd have done it a long time

The sight stirs something in me, my chest, my stomach, my brain and my heart

How did we get here?? Well let me tell you

Earlier that day

"Your plan sucks" I mutter out relaxing on the chair while he just gives me a perplexed look

"What"? He asks and I just look back at him

"Your plan" I said pointing to the paper sprawled out on the table "it sucks, we can't use it, Enzo would catch us even before we start" I tell him more loudly

"So what's your own plan принцесса? I don't see you bringing up any plans since we started" he retorts making me snort at him

"I have, you just didn't want it" I mutter out folding my arms in front of me

"I didn't want it, because it's a dangerous plan, a plan where you have to tail Enzo, and you think he won't notice? What if he catches you"? He asks

"Then I'll have a reason for tailing him, you don't have a reason for tailing him, I'm his wife's sister, you're his sworn enemy, from where I'm sitting, your plan is the dangerous one, not mine" I explain to him feeling proud of myself

He breathes out running his hands through his face "It doesn't matter, we're not using your plan" he says with finality

"And we're not using yours either" I retort and he raises a brow at me

"And why's that принцесса"?

"Because we're working together, I'm not working for you so I have a say and I say your plan is dangerous too, so we're not using it" I humph out and he just shakes his head

"You won't even know if I decide to follow him, you're not here all the time" he says making me look at him

"Then I'll just keep information about his whereabouts to myself" I snap back

"What makes you think I need your information to tail Enzo"? He asks tauntingly, before shaking his head and walking out of the room

I groan out God why is he so stubborn He can't just agree to something simple Very simple, my plan is easier and better, but no, we have to use Mr I know it all's plan

______________________________________

"You know the gym is usually used for a different purpose and not for using your phone" I say walking towards him with my hands safely tucked behind me

He just looks up at me and goes back to pressing his phone

"Ignoring me now are we"? I ask going over to stand in front of him

"I thought you left already, what are you still doing here"? He grumbled out not looking away from his phone

"Is that any way to speak to your partner"? I ask biting back a smile, I knew why I came here, I just came to rile him up and I think it's working

He just scoffs without saying anything

"What? You don't think I'm partner material"? I ask looking at myself

He sighs out loudly "not now принцесса, I'm busy" he mutters out making me look at him before I do a very stupid thing

Something I didn't think I'd ever do to anyone, let alone my kidnapper, Dimitri, whom I may have gotten comfortable with over the past month we've been working together

I snatch his phone away from his hands, thank God it didn't drop

He looks up at me and I give him a fake smile, toothy and all

"Give it back принцесса" he muttered, obviously uninterested in whatever game I was playing, but I'm not giving it back now

"Nope" I stressing on the p "You're always on this damn phone, what are you always doing anyway, you're gonna get your brain fried" I mutter the last part out to myself

"It's none of your business Cora, give it back" he grits out obviously getting irritated already, good

"Ouch, and here I thought you may have changed" I said somberly, before bringing the phone out from behind me, I could see his face relax a bit and maybe he even regrets snapping at me

But then I do another stupid thing, I open the top part of my top and put the phone inside my bra, not all the way but I could feel the coldness on my skin

"You want your phone that bad Dimitri, then come get it" I say nonchalantly before going over to sit at one of the gym chairs crossing my legs

He just watched me with shock and a half opened mouth

After a while he walks towards me and stands in front of me "What do you want"? He finally asks the one question I wanted him to ask since I walked in

"Don't be so grumpy, jeez, you're ruining the fun before it even starts" I tell him and he just groans out "I wanna learn how to skate on an ice rink and you are gonna teach me" I say pointing to him

He scoffs "you're obviously not serious, I don't have time for that Cora" he grits out

"Okay then, your phone remains with me, or maybe if you can take it from where I kept it" I say looking away from him, he opens his mouth to speak but I cut him off

"And you can't say you don't know how to skate, because Ivan told me you do" I tell him with a smile and I hear him curse out, before sighing

"Fine, let's go" he says making me smile even wider, mission accomplished I get up and follow behind him "you have one hour else I'm taking my phone and coming back home" he grumbles

One hour is enough captain

Back to the present

As promised, we're in the ice rink and he is trying to kill me, not to teach me how to skate

He looks back down at me, the smile still present on his face, I'm lost at this moment

"принцесса you asked me to bring you here and to teach you, I'm not trying to kill you" he says looking at me and only then do I realize he's talking to me

"I don't believe you, this is payback right, you're trying to kill me here and get rid of my body so you never have to deal with me again" I say sadly and he chuckles resting his hands on my shoulders

"I'm teaching you how to skate, don't look at the ice, keep your eyes on me" he muttered slowly before taking my gloves covered hands in his as he starts guiding me to follow him.

I keep my eyes on him and slowly I start moving "One step at a time" he whispers moving back while I follow him

I don't look away from him and neither does he "You're getting it принцесса" he says with a smile, his smile is so beautiful I can't even look away even if I wanted to

I don't even know he has let go of me, it takes a while before I notice I'm moving on my own and he's just in front of me guiding me

"Dimitri I'm going to fall down" I almost scream

"No you won't, hey eyes on me, don't look at the ice" he says gently, by now I'm not moving again

Just hanging there on the skating boots and looking frightened

"You promised you wouldn't let go Maxim" I say with trembling voice and he's quick to get close to me and rests his hands on my waist

"And I didn't принцесса, you were doing great, you didn't really need me anymore" be whispers, my eyes are already blurry from tears

I'm always getting too emotional these days and I hate He pulls me close to his chest as he coos at me

"Shhhh, I'm sorry принцесса, I'm never letting go again, I promise"

I can hear his heartbeat and it's steady, relaxing my own racing one His musky cologne mixed with cigarette as always, but I like it

"It's okay принцесса"

Awwww

Who else loves them both more than Ivan and Cora together??😩😩